Street name debate continues

12:50 AM,
Dec. 20, 2010

Opelousas sign painter Julie Miles inspects one of the completed Devery Henderson Jr. Drive signs for the proposed Jefferson Street name change. Residents challenging the change say they oppose it because of lack of city procedure.

Written by

Judy Bastien
jbastien@dailyworld.com

A flurry of controversy followed when the name of Jefferson Street was changed by the Opelousas City Council early this year to honor Saints wide receiver Devery Henderson, who lived there as a child. The protests of some Jefferson Street residents continue and were heard at last week's city council meeting. At that meeting, new procedures were adopted to govern future street name changes, including a proposed name change of part of Market Street.

The Rev. Walton Dunbar, a Jefferson Street resident, spoke out in favor of an honorary name change, modeled after the one that designated a ...